Cruisers Forum
 


Reply
  This discussion is proudly sponsored by:
Please support our sponsors and let them know you heard about their products on Cruisers Forums. Advertise Here
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread Rate Thread Display Modes
Old 05-01-2014, 16:41   #1
Registered User
 
Ansmith's Avatar

Join Date: Oct 2013
Posts: 47
New to Living Aboard and Being Pregnant.

Hello everyone!

My husband and I are planning on moving aboard soon. We have a 36' sailboat but plan to sell it and get a bigger one (45-50') It will be our first time ever living aboard and we are really excited about it.

We also may be planning to get pregnant soon and I've been trying to do my research about being pregnant and having a new born on a boat.

Do you have any pointers?
I'm just wondering if it will or won't be too much all at once. (New baby and new living style)
We already know our family is going to worry and be completely against it.
If you had a new born on board what did you do for sleeping arrangements? Also when you had a baby did the hospital know that you lived on a boat? I haven't done my research yet but I'm wondering if that would be a reason for child services to get involved?

Also any pointers you want to give about living aboard would be great!!!

Thanks!
Ansmith is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-01-2014, 17:14   #2
Marine Service Provider
 
Scott Berg's Avatar

Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: Aboard
Boat: Seaton 60' Ketch
Posts: 1,338
Re: New to living aboard and being pregnant.

Just do it
All of it
This is your only time around in this life...
You will figure it out
Happy New Year and good luck
__________________
Scott Berg
WAØLSS
SV CHARDONNAY
Scott Berg is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-01-2014, 17:34   #3
Registered User
 
Ansmith's Avatar

Join Date: Oct 2013
Posts: 47
Re: New to living aboard and being pregnant.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Scott Berg View Post
Just do it
All of it
This is your only time around in this life...
You will figure it out
Happy New Year and good luck

Thanks for the positive attitude!!!
Ansmith is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-01-2014, 17:59   #4
Registered User

Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: Refit in Port Townsend, WA
Boat: 1984 Slocum 43
Posts: 425
Re: New to Living Aboard and Being Pregnant.

The Bumfuzzle blog has lots of discussion about newborns and children on board. You'll need to go back a year or two to get to the beginning:

Bumfuzzle
Mycroft is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-01-2014, 17:59   #5
Registered User
 
fjwiley1's Avatar

Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Jacksonville, FL
Boat: Lindsey Center Cockpit 39' Ketch
Posts: 471
Re: New to Living Aboard and Being Pregnant.

Welcome aboard Cruisers Forum Ansmith....I'll agree with Scott Berg....today you can't understand when I say "Life is short"....the longer you wait, you will understand.....
don't wait for your "dream child" to be born and not have had the opportunity to enjoy this life style...you'll never regret it.....go for it.......adapt and adjust as you go

Life is Good...just keepa Smilin.......
__________________
enjoy the winds for they are free

S/V Water Wings
fjwiley1 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-01-2014, 18:01   #6
Registered User
 
Ansmith's Avatar

Join Date: Oct 2013
Posts: 47
Re: New to Living Aboard and Being Pregnant.

Thanks so much for the support! And I'll def check out that blog.
Ansmith is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-01-2014, 18:17   #7
Moderator Emeritus
 
Hudson Force's Avatar

Cruisers Forum Supporter

Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Lived aboard & cruised for 45 years,- now on a chair in my walk-in closet.
Boat: Morgan OI 413 1973 - Aythya
Posts: 8,453
Images: 1
Re: New to Living Aboard and Being Pregnant.

Ansmith, Nancie and I lived aboard for five years before our daughter was born back in 1976 and then our son in 1979. We were on a 33' sloop during those years and we did not move to a larger boat until our children were seven and nine. We practiced the axiom that, "you can not fall off the floor!" with our newborns and they slept in baskets on the floor. We did all the usual things that people do with the protection from stored chemicals in cabinets and electrical sources. I do believe that our children walked a little later than they would have had it not been that there was not enough open floor space for them to require "letting go". When they were older,- two to five, we had them sleep in our V-berth while we took the quarter berth. We had blocked the fall from the forward V-berth with a netting that we would put up with hooks. I was very concerned that the size of the mesh in the netting and gaps at the edges could not accept the size of their heads and present a choking or hanging hazard.

Without anticipation of a great consequence and gift to our family, we found that raising our chidren in close quarters gave our children and ourselves a resulting skill in dealing with communication and conflict resolution. I think that, even now with our children away and thirty-seven and thirty-four, we are exceptionally close.

This raising of children aboard is a passionate topic for my wife and I. Please keep us posted of your successes and challenges!
__________________
Take care and joy, Aythya crew
Hudson Force is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-01-2014, 18:18   #8
Registered User

Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: Athens, Georgia, USA
Boat: Formerly MacGregor Venture 22, now a landlubber
Posts: 100
Re: New to Living Aboard and Being Pregnant.

Lots of worse environments out there for a child than a boat. Half the people in the world shouldn't have kids if home situation was a factor.
Dr. Strangelove is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-01-2014, 18:33   #9
Registered User
 
Ansmith's Avatar

Join Date: Oct 2013
Posts: 47
Re: New to Living Aboard and Being Pregnant.

CaptForce thanks for the information! I have read that a lot of people start out with their child sleeping on the floor or in the V-berth with them. When I first read about people having their child sleep in a clothes basket on the floor, I didn't really like the idea of it but I'm willing to do whatever would be safer for them. I was thinking too that we would be able to build a safe sleeping area within one of the beds. Plus put netting outside the boat to help avoid them falling off when it gets older.

What would you say is the biggest challenge of having a small child on board?

I assume a child living on a sailboat can be just as safe as living on land. It's just that people don't think of all the hazards there can be living on land since it's so natural to them. The idea of giving our child the ocean as their backyard is just amazing!
Ansmith is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-01-2014, 18:34   #10
Registered User
 
Ansmith's Avatar

Join Date: Oct 2013
Posts: 47
Re: New to Living Aboard and Being Pregnant.

Absolutely true Dr strangelove!
Ansmith is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-01-2014, 18:38   #11
Nearly an old salt
 
goboatingnow's Avatar

Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Lefkas Marina ,Greece
Boat: Bavaria 36
Posts: 22,801
Images: 3
Re: New to Living Aboard and Being Pregnant.

We used a small travel cot to great advantage from about one year old to about three , its can be a bulky nuisance , but very secure.

In the later stages of pregnancy, if my wife was anything to go by , you need to careful moving around and on and off the boat.

Are you going sailing or staying on the dock

Dave
__________________
Interested in smart boat technology, networking and all things tech
goboatingnow is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-01-2014, 18:40   #12
Registered User
 
Stu Jackson's Avatar

Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Cowichan Bay, BC (Maple Bay Marina)
Posts: 9,703
Re: New to Living Aboard and Being Pregnant.

Ann, IIRC there are also books about kids on board, in addition to the blog link provided earlier. Since you already have a boat, we can assume you know some tricks and techniques about stability and safety.

You seemed to have expressed a concern about where you live (on a boat) as a possible issue for the hospital. Not sure why it's any of their business.

My son was conceived on our Catalina 25, sailed with us when he was tiny and since he grew a lot (boys tend to do that!) we got a bigger boat!

My older daughter loved boating and she took to it like the proverbial duck.

While we did not live aboard, our long vacations sometimes replicated those conditions.

They're both still with us!

All the best, go for it!
__________________
Stu Jackson
Catalina 34 #224 (1986) C34IA Secretary
Cowichan Bay, BC, SR/FK, M25, Rocna 10 (22#) (NZ model)
Stu Jackson is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-01-2014, 18:42   #13
Registered User
 
Ansmith's Avatar

Join Date: Oct 2013
Posts: 47
Re: New to Living Aboard and Being Pregnant.

Thanks Dave that's a good idea.

My biggest fear is my stomach getting too big and falling off and hitting my stomach while going down. We plan to be docked but I know there will be days out or weekends anchored. I was told your balance isn't always good while pregnant.
Ansmith is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-01-2014, 18:42   #14
Registered User

Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: Cruising the Gulf of Mexico.
Boat: 1980 Morgan 415
Posts: 1,452
I have to say that one of the best things that we gave our children was space. That is hard to come by in a boat.

Not much room to crawl.

Best wishes.
__________________
Working on spending my children's inheritance.
Cap Erict3 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-01-2014, 18:48   #15
Registered User
 
Ansmith's Avatar

Join Date: Oct 2013
Posts: 47
Re: New to Living Aboard and Being Pregnant.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Stu Jackson View Post
Ann, IIRC there are also books about kids on board, in addition to the blog link provided earlier. Since you already have a boat, we can assume you know some tricks and techniques about stability and safety.

You seemed to have expressed a concern about where you live (on a boat) as a possible issue for the hospital. Not sure why it's any of their business.

My son was conceived on our Catalina 25, sailed with us when he was tiny and since he grew a lot (boys tend to do that!) we got a bigger boat!

My older daughter loved boating and she took to it like the proverbial duck.

While we did not live aboard, our long vacations sometimes replicated those conditions.

They're both still with us!

All the best, go for it!

Thanks I'll have to look into some books too! I do have a few ideas about safety but sadly I haven't even been out on the water in our sailboat yet because of an engine problem. So I guess you can say I'm taking a big jump into this new life style but I have a good feeling that I will fall in love with it. Glad to hear you're having a great experience!
Ansmith is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Tags
living aboard

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes Rate This Thread
Rate This Thread:

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


Advertise Here


All times are GMT -7. The time now is 20:58.


Google+
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 1
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
Social Knowledge Networks
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 1
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.

ShowCase vBulletin Plugins by Drive Thru Online, Inc.